Building $1100 gaming PC - first time need help

dizzog · Jun 6, 2014

I've finally decided to upgrade my off-the-shelf pre-built from 2004. After looking through some guides (Falcon Guide being the basis), I've decided on these parts. Since this is my first time though, I am unsure if these are the best components suited for my needs. In general, I just want a rig capable of playing modern games on med-high settings (1920x1080) and would last 3-5 years before needing another upgrade. I'm not planning on overclocking or crossfiring or anything since I don't know how to do so and would like to stick with Intel/Nvidia. I'd rather have the parts in the next week if possible and my budget can go up to $1500, but I'd much rather stick near $1100.

Intel Core i3-4130 Haswell 3.4GHz LGA 1150 54W Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4400 BX80646I34130
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - CPU Cooler with 120 mm PWM Fan
ARCTIC MX-2 (4g) Carbon-Based Thermal Compound, Non-Electricity Conductive, Non-Capacitive
GIGABYTE GA-Z87X-UD3H LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model BLS8G3D1609ES2LX0
SAMSUNG 840 EVO MZ-7TE120BW 2.5" 120GB SATA III TLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive
GIGABYTE GV-N770OC-2GD GeForce GTX 770 2GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready WindForce 3X 450W Video Card
Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Arctic White Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
SeaSonic M12II 520 Bronze 520W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS 12V v2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS - OEM
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
TP-LINK TL-WN722N Wireless N150 High Gain USB Adapter, 150Mbps, w/4 dBi High Gain Detachable Antenna, IEEE 802.11b/g/n, WEP, WPA/WPA2

I guess there are three things in particular I'm not sure about:
Is the i3 sufficient for gaming? I've read benchmarks and it seems to only lose 2-10 FPS compared to an i5.
Is the power supply enough? I'm at 398W according to PCPartsPicker
Is this mobo fine? It only has 3 stars on newegg, but I can't find any better/cheap alternative.

lowriderflow · Jun 6, 2014

lost 10FPS b/c of your CPU is considered a BIG drop.

i think the 770 is the right choice for what you're asking, but I think you should move up to the i5.

Also, there's no reason for the CPU cooler and the upgraded thermal paste if you're not overclocking. Just use the factory heatsink setup.

Power supply is fine for an i3/i5 with a 770.

dizzog · Jun 6, 2014

lowriderflow :

Well, the biggest change in FPS seems to be for Metro: Last Light. Other games like B:I or BF4 seems to only suffer 1-5 FPS, which I don't think is a lot. If you think this isn't 'future proof' though, would it better to go to an i5?
Would switching to the default cooler keep my computer quiet? Some reviews say it runs kind of noisy.
Do you have any recommendations on other parts? I'm trying to get the build as cheap as possible while not sacrificing too much for gaming.

Thanks for the help so far.

jshoop · Jun 6, 2014

this is what i came up with, since you dont want to bother with overclocking i made it a small form factor build. wifi is built into the motherboard, has a 770 and an i5, and you can change windows 8 to windows 7 but 8 performs better gaming wise (not by much, windows 7 is still great)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.65 @ DirectCanada)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master GeminII M4 58.4 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Memory Express)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($134.75 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 Low Profile Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($89.96 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Crucial M550 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($99.75 @ Vuugo)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.75 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($349.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Corsair 250D Mini ITX Tower Case ($83.02 @ DirectCanada)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($94.99 @ NCIX)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Memory Express)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.79 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $1271.63
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-06 14:53 EDT-0400)

EDIT: ypu can also take out the cpu cooler if you want, it isnt needed. the stock cooler is fine, sure its louder but it works. if you'd rather have a atx-sized build then i can put one of those together too. im guessing you from canada since your using newegg canada so i used canadian pc partpicker

dizzog · Jun 6, 2014

Hi, thanks for the suggestions. I've modified my build to use the graphics card you listed (it's cheaper and seems to perform the same) and changed to Win8 (I looked more into this and it turns out Win8 isn't as bad as some people say!). Do you think it would also be beneficial to go up to the 4590 or 4670 like you suggested if I want this to last a few years?
The Antec looks like a lot of people have issues with the stiff cables so I'll stick with the corsair. Also, the cooler you suggested seems to not fit in most mobos properly, so I'll probably just not get one at all. As for your other suggestions like the ssd or mobo, I'm wary of them since they have little to no reviews.

Is there anything else I can do to get this build down cheaper for this quality?

jshoop · Jun 6, 2014

the crucial m550 is just the newer model of the crucial m500, which is great. its reliable and less expensive than the 840 evo. the h97 is the same as the z97 mobo but a different chipset and less vrms. its a good motherboard. the 4590 is less expensive than the 4670 and a generation newer, it will provide the same performance as the 4670.

you can bump up to a micro atx build that will be less expensive than a small build like this. its still gonna be alot smaller than an atx sized build and more portable (if that matters). i'll brainstorm one up. heres the 2nd draft of the mini itx build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.65 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($134.75 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 Low Profile Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($89.96 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Crucial M550 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($99.75 @ Vuugo)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.75 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($349.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Corsair 250D Mini ITX Tower Case ($83.02 @ DirectCanada)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($93.59 @ Newegg Canada)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Memory Express)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.79 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $1235.24
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-06 16:07 EDT-0400)

dizzog · Jun 6, 2014

I think I'll still go with the evo at this rate since it's cheaper and has raving reviews everywhere, but thanks for the suggestion. I've been looking into the differences between the i3, i5, and i7 possibilities and I'm still struggling to sort it out. It seems like the i3 in my build will be more than capable for gaming and day-to-day activities whereas an i5 is overkill and ~30% more expensive. Do you really recommend the 4590?

Also yeah, I'm not necessarily looking for something small. It can be medium sized (like the case I originally had) and relatively quiet. If a larger build is cheaper, can you suggest one? Thanks in advance!

jshoop · Jun 6, 2014

heres a micro atx build thats cheaper:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.65 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Asus H97M-E/CSM Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($94.50 @ Vuugo)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.79 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($94.79 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.97 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($349.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Cooler Master N200 MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($47.95 @ Vuugo)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($93.59 @ Amazon Canada)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Memory Express)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.79 @ DirectCanada)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN881ND 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($23.99 @ Canada Computers)
Total: $1174.00
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-06 16:39 EDT-0400)

oh wow, i didnt even realize the 840 evo was less. definatly go with the 840 evo in my opinion.

for the processor, the i3 is good for entry level things. maxing out games however is harder. benchmarks are taken in single player. if you play multiplayer games like bf4 or something, you wont be able to have as many fps since the cpu has to deal with the online aspect as well as the game itself. also, the i3 has 2 cores, but 4 threads. pretty much 2 really strong threads and 2 somewhat strong threads. the i5 has 4 really strong threads and cores. the i5 will max any game out with a capable gpu. an i7 really shines in more professional grade tasks like video editing and rendering. it will perform the same in games. you should really get an i5 for games. if you do professional tasks frequently i reccomend the xeon, its pretty much an i7 without one minor feature (integrated graphics on the cpu)

i'll put an atx build together too and see if thats less expensive as well

jshoop · Jun 6, 2014

heres an atx build: i included the same case you chose

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.65 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($104.75 @ Vuugo)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($79.79 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($94.79 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.97 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($349.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Corsair Vengeance C70 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($127.00 @ Vuugo)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($93.59 @ Newegg Canada)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Memory Express)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.79 @ DirectCanada)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN881ND 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($23.99 @ Canada Computers)
Total: $1263.30
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-06 16:54 EDT-0400)

dizzog · Jun 6, 2014

Thanks for the two build suggestions, I really appreciate it!
I'm close to finalizing my build, but I still have some questions:
I looked up the WD vs Seagate storage and it seems that seagate is faster by a bit despite being the same price; any reason you use WD?
For the PSU, I saw Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (78.99 @ NCIX) - would this do the trick as a cheaper alternative? Reviews seem to be decent.
Can you tell me why you went for a more expensive wifi adapter? Both seem to be very good, but yours is about $10 more.

Talesseed · Jun 6, 2014

I would go for a R9 280X. It's cheaper than a 770 and performs better ;-)

jshoop · Jun 6, 2014

Talesseed :

both perform close to the same, but the 770 usually has the edge in most games. also, it offers a few more features (and better in my opinion) like physx and g-sync. the 280x really only offers mantle, which is only supported in 2 games. if the op was playing at a higher resolution i wouldve gone with the 280x (it scales better than the 770 and has more vram). both are great cards.

@dizzog: i just went with western digital because it was the first one on the list and i guess im biased towards western digital. ive never used seagate before and i hear it has a higher failure rate but theyre both really low, you shouldnt have to worry about that. you can definatly go with the seagate, its up to you. i dont know anything about the speeds, i havent researched hard drives really.

the cx series for the psu is low quality, and only should be used on tight budget builds. i dont recommend getting it. this is a list of psus to get, tiers 1 and 2 (a and b) are good, anything else you shouldnt buy

http://community.newegg.com/eggxpert/computer_hardware/f/135081/t/45344.aspx

for the wifi adapter i just went with one with the best reviews. they perform all the same anyway so you can use the one thats less expensive.

dizzog · Jun 6, 2014

Alright, I think this is the final build I want. Can you look it over and see if it's alright? (I hope it is!)

PCPartPicker part list: http://ca.pcpartpicker.com/p/F8zMTW

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.65 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97-D3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($104.75 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($83.59 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($94.79 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB TWIN FROZR Video Card ($349.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Corsair Vengeance C70 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($127.00 @ Vuugo)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($93.59 @ Newegg Canada)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.75 @ Vuugo)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.79 @ DirectCanada)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN722N 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter ($13.27 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $1261.16

I'm still not entirely sure about the Seasonic vs. Corsair since I read that the 600CX v2 is actually a good budget PSU unlike some of the earlier 400CX stuff. But I'll stick with your advice and go with the more expensive PSU just in case since I heard it's not a part you want to save money on.

jshoop · Jun 6, 2014

seasonic is one of the best psu makers out their. seasonic makes corsair'x, xfx's, and other companies psus. they just rebrand the seasonic psu to their own brand.

the build itself looks great. in the future for upgrades you can upgrade the processor to intels next generation i7, which will be the best processor you can fit in the motherboard. it wont provide much difference in todays games but if in the future games benefit from more cores the i7 will do great.

also, you can upgrade the gpu. since the psu is only 520W though you wouldnt be able to get a second 770 (you dont want to deal with sli anyway). however, the 870 and 880 should be able to run on 520W, since power consumption goes down with each generation increase. maybe even a 980 (if they keep the same naming scheme, this is purely conjecture).

and of course you can add a new hdd or ssd. the motherboard has a special sata port thats faster than normal sata ports, so in the future the ssd might be slow compared to todays ssd. its called sata express if you want to research it at somepoint

after all that speculation, one things for sure: this build will be awesome for gaming, and will be playing games great for years to come. if you have any questions, feel free to update this thread or post a new one

dizzog · Jun 6, 2014

Then I guess there's nothing left to do but order and try to build when it gets here.
Alright, thanks for all the help today jshoop; I really appreciate it!

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